George Johannesen is dead to Manitoba Public Insurance. Sure, he's still technically alive. But the insurance company recently sent the 59-year-old Canadian a letter declaring that he had died in October.

In a letter addressed to "The Estate of George Johannesen," Manitoba Public Insurance wrote that the 59-year-old Canadian died sometime in October.

"I can't figure it out," Johannesen said of the letter in an interview with the Toronto Sun.

Johannesen's situation calls to mind what Mark Twain told a reporter sent to investigate his demise in 1897: "The report of my death was an exaggeration."

And while the letter might seem like a harmless, even amusing, mistake, it has not been without repercussions. For example, after declaring him dead, the insurance company's letter also informed Johannesen that his driver's license had been canceled.

"I don't understand how this could have happened," he told the Sun. "For me to be declared dead, someone would have to present a death certificate. For someone to get that, I guess I must have died sometime in October."

MPI said the mistake did not originate with them but refused to reveal the source of information to the Sun.